One year later, murder case still a mystery

It’s been a year since the body of Livingston resident Carl Wills, 22, was found in a roadside ditch in north Liberty County.

Investigators with the Liberty County Sheriff’s Office have questioned dozens of people about Wills’ murder, but so far no one has been charged with the crime.

On Sept. 1, a fisherman found Wills’ body lying in a dry creek bed next to a bridge on CR 2132, which is also known as Plantation Road.

Investigators believe that Wills was killed elsewhere, possibly in the Livingston area where Wills lived with his mother, and his body was transported to Liberty County for disposal.

“He didn’t deserve this — to shoot my baby in the back and head, and dump his body up under that bridge where alligators are,” said his mother Rhonda Wills.

Rhonda, who moved to Lufkin after her son’s death, said that in the days before Carl’s death, he had been despondent following his release from jail.

In August 2011, Carl was arrested for traffic tickets and spent nearly the whole month in jail, said his mother.

“When he got home from jail, he slept all that day. He was clutching his Bible. He looked troubled. I asked him what was wrong and he said, ‘Nothing, Mama, that I want to talk about,’” said Rhonda.

The look on her son’s face still haunts her.

“I don’t know what was going on. I tried to talk to my son when he got out of jail. I told him, ‘Carl, baby, go ahead and get out of Livingston. There is nothing for you here,’” said Rhonda. “He just had a sad look on his face when I told him that.”

While she cannot prove it yet, she feels that her son’s taste in girlfriends might have led to his death. Carl liked white women in a town that doesn’t condone interracial dating, she said.

“There are a lot of people who have told me that this one man did not want his daughter with a black person,” said Rhonda. “She was dating my son.”

Rhonda’s cousin, Arthur Dirden, feels his cousin’s death might be related to a case of sexual assault that was brought against him. Dirden claims he was falsely accused and Carl was his only witness that the assault never took place.

The Liberty County Sheriff’s Office investigators have looked into both claims but say that there is no evidence to substantiate either theory about Carl’s murder.

Rhonda hopes that someone who knows what happened to Carl will eventually come forward and share their information with law enforcement.

“I am hoping that whoever reads this story will look deep in their hearts and ask, ‘What if this was my son?’ He had a mother who loved him. He had a sister who loved him. He was a brother, a son, a father, a nephew, an uncle,” said Rhonda.

She believes that whatever was done to Carl in the dark will one day be revealed in the light.

“I want the killer to get dealt with. I need justice. I hope they rot in the penitentiary. The death penalty is too easy,” she said. “As a mother, I hurt like hell every day. God forgive me for cursing, but I am hurting.”

If anyone has information about Wills’ case, please call the Liberty County Sheriff’s Office at 936-336-4500 and speak to Sgt. Investigator Joel Davila. Tips can also be submitted via email at joel.davila@co.liberty.tx.us. All information can remain anonymous.